Yanks hitters draw blank

Colorado pitching holds New York to four hits as Kuroda suffers loss

Associated Press

Published 11:53 pm, Tuesday, May 7, 2013

New York Yankees' Chris Nelson bats in the pouring rain against the Colorado Rockies during the fifth inning of a baseball game on Tuesday, May 7, 2013, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

New York Yankees' Chris Nelson bats in the pouring rain against the...

New York Yankees' Robinson Cano (24) breaks his bat as he grounds out against the Colorado Rockies during the fourth inning of a baseball game on Tuesday, May 7, 2013, in Denver. (AP Photo/Jack Dempsey)

Despite a stellar start from Hiroki Kuroda, the Yankees lost their fifth straight game at Coors Field, dating to an interleague series in 2002. They were swept in a three-game set in 2007 in their last trip to Denver's downtown ballpark.

Gonzalez broke a scoreless tie with two outs in the sixth when he sent a 3-2 pitch from Kuroda into the right-field bullpen with a runner on to give Colorado a 2-0 lead. His homer followed a two-out single by Josh Rutledge.

In his first loss since April 3 against Boston, Kuroda allowed just two earned runs on seven hits over seven innings.

De La Rosa (3-3) allowed three hits, walked one and struck out two.

The Yankees managed just three singles off De La Rosa. Matt Belisle didn't allow a hit in the seventh, Rex Brothers pitched a 1-2-3 eighth and closer Rafael Betancourt gave up a leadoff single to Jayson Nix in the ninth before getting the next three batters for his ninth save.